Author's note: For those who think this story is going nowhere, the story starts to pick up at the end of this chapter and the next few.

Red stood up for the challenge, and mama did the crowd shriek. Just one more pathetic loser to go, and they could go on home from this disappointment that Volkner called a tourney. I mentally laughed to myself.

This crowd probably has more than they bargained for.

Red took to the stage; I strutted behind him nervously; a few hundred pairs of eyes feeling me up.

Volkner handed him the microphone. "So kid can you tell us your name?"

Red paused, "I am Red! Some of you may know me, some not. But y'all listen up!"

I felt the crowd's mood sparking as Red started his rant - sounding like a madman.

"I am the best there has ever been! Nine of these people have been my victims." He pointed to the robed Champion. "Tonight I make that ten!"

The crowd let out a loud "Oooh."

He pointed to Morty, "You're going down!" Morty seemed appalled by Red calling him out. Red moved over to Lorelei, "Oh-ho-ho! You missy are not going home free! I'll wipe you out so hard that you'll go home to the Sevii Islands crying!" Lorelei's glasses steamed up a little.

Red proceeded to call out every last one of the exhibitioners: from calling Drake an old pile of dragon lard to talking down Skyla by calling her a street walker. After disrespecting the other five people, Red then swung over to the Champion.

He shouted, "And tell the League that Spartacus has arrived 'cause the new champ is in town!"

In an over-inflated sense of bravado - just to add to the shit talking - Red crossed his arms, and dropped the microphone. A mixture of booes and cheers eminated from our audience; whether this guy was going to get his ass kicked or have the first win of the night, the crowd just didn't care.

Volkner scuttled to the mircophone and smirked. "Well folks, looks like our challenger Red is asking for the works!"

The crowd erupted in cheer, I blinked, puzzled at what he meant by "the works".

My question got answered by Volkner, right before I asked him. "For those who don't know of our works, it is a gang-up on the challenger"

Me and Red gasped. Volkner's hand threw up to silence us. "For all forms of fairness, our exhibitioners are allowed to only use one Pokemon, and the challenger can use as many as they can carry."

Red's eyes widened. That meant he could only use me and his Pikachu. I'm pretty sure he knew we couldn't back out of this, but says the bullheaded guy who decided taking on anyone was a good idea.

His Pikachu, which had been sitting on his shoulder for pretty much the whole afternoon jumped down with grace. "Pika, Pika" he spoke in Pokespeak. I translated it to "Let's do this!" I spoke to him in my native tongue rather than English "Pikachu, I sure hope you can handle this."

Red's Pikachu rolled his eyes "Woman, if you knew the things I have done, you would go crying back to the almight Creator."

Pikachu braced himself, "Look, I don't know how good you are, but Red explained to me you are good by yourself. I would suggest listening to Red, because he is good at analyzing the field, and using anything to his advantage."

I shot him a venom look, "I already knew that!"

All nine of the exhibitioners took to a circle around Red. Red backed himself next to Pikachu and I. He was determined to win this, no matter what. "Lunia, I hope you're ready." I nodded to him, affirming his wishes.

The first to send out a Pokemon was Clair, she released her Pokemon from its ball. A Dragonite emerged from the ball, ready to get on with the fight.

The other trainers had their own respective Pokemon on them, sending them out respectively: a Steelix for Byron, a Froslass for Morty, a Manectric for Wattson, a Lapras for Lorelei, a Rhyperior for Brock, a Flygon for Drake, a Crobat for Skyla, and a Machamp for Blue.

Not since the Tyranitar in Rustboro did I feel pure power in any Pokemon but me and my own children,their auras almost literally dripping with sheer ferocity if that were possible.

Volkner long since went off to the side, not even needing to tell everyone this fight was gonna be good.

Red made the first move, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on the Lapras!" Pikachu jumping, charging his cheek sacks, and loosening his energy onto the Lapras. The Thunderbolt hit the Lapras, startling everyone else to make a move.

Drake's and Clair's dragons took to the sky, attempting to hit us from above. The bulky Pokemon straight up charged at me and Pikachu. The Rhyperior and Steelix were dodged with minimal grace; just merely strafing was enough. The Crobat, Manectric, and Froslass went for ranged attacks. Lorelei's Lapras lay paralyzed on the ground, severely hit by Pikachu's Thunderbolt, yet still with enough fight in it.

All the respective trainers called out specific commands, hoping to hit either of the two of us. A Dragon Pulse from each of the dragons was dodged with ease. a tri-beam attack from the Crobat, Froslass, and Manectric barely grazed both of us; nothing more than a mere scratch on me and Pikachu.

I called to Red through my telepathy. "Red, you and your Pikachu take half. I'll try my best to ward off the other half. I got the Crobat, Froslass, Manectic, and Flygon, ok?"

Red didn't second guess me, as I broke away from Pikachu.

"What are you doing Lunia?" Pikachu cried.

"Saving our sorry behinds, and maybe even the match. Just follow Red's lead, and we got this."

After nearly five minutes of fighting, me and Pikachu steadily whittled down the number of Pokemon to three; mostly due to idiotic friendly fire. Morty's Froslass, Clair's Dragonite, and Blue's Machamp.

I mentally scratched the number down to two as I sent Blue's Machamp sky high with a powerful Psychic. It was sent spiraling a good twenty five to thirty feet in the air. I saw gravity miraculously set in motion as the Machamp crashed into the dirt ground of the battlefield.

Blue grumbled something inaudible as he withdrew his Machamp from the fight.

Red called out to his Pikachu "Use Iron Tail on the Froslass!"

Pikachu leapt with grace into the air raising his tail - that started to gain a silverish sheen - and sent it violenty down on the Froslass' arm. The Froslass whimpered in pain. Morty groaned, then asked: "Are you okay Froslass?" The poor thing shook it's head. A rather nasty bruise started to appear around the wound - a gross purplish black

Morty sighed, "Well if you insist-" brandishing a Pokeball, he recalled his Froslass, "get a good rest," he finished.

Morty shuffled quickly to the sidelines with the rest of the exhibtioners. Clair's Dragonite was the only Pokemon still in fighting condition.

Clair pointed at me and Pikachu; "Dragonite, use Ice Punch!"

The Dragonite snarled, and obeyed its trainer. It brought up its right fist and started to gather frozen energy. It screamed into the air as it charged towards me and Pikachu.

Red stuttered, "L-Lunia, Pikachu, dodge it!"

I dodged the Dragonite's rather fierce charge easily, but on second thought, it wasn't after me in the first place. I veered left, and Pikachu dove right. The Dragonite completely ignored me and charged towards Pikachu.

I heard Red draw an inaudible breath: "Pikachu, dodge it and use Quick Attack!" Pikachu dodged the attack and hit the Dragonite in the stomach with a Quick Attack. Dragonite cringed slightly, but remained unfazed by Pikachu's attack.

Clair sneered, "Dragonite give it an Ice Punch that Pikachu will never forget!"

I felt the Dragonite's mental state kick into a bloodlust as it raised it's fist. Pikachu tried valiantly to ward off the Dragonite's repeated flurry of Ice Punches, desperately crying at me: "For godsakes Lunia, help me!"

I launched a well-placed Psychic towards the Dragonite. What happened next scared the life out of me. I felt the Dragonite's heart skip a beat momentarily, as the Dragonite grabbed Pikachu, and threw up Pikachu as a meat shield to my Psychic.

The whole crowd whooped as my Psychic crashed into Pikachu and Dragonite; Pikachu getting the brunt of the strike. The Dragonite threw down Pikachu, and struck him with a mighty frozen fist. The punch sent shock waves into the ground and dust flying everywhere.

When Dragonite stood up, it held Pikachu's unconcious body in it's giant hand. Dragonite let Pikachu slide from it's grasp like a ragdoll - Pikachu hitting the ground with a firm plump. Red panicked, "Pikachu no!" He attempted to rush onto the field, but I barred him from making a stupid mistake. "Red don't do that! Get Nurse Joy to take care of Pikachu! This is my fight now!" He withdrew from the field, "Lunia, if you say so, then give your all."

Nurse Joy and Red immediately ran onto the field, grabbed Pikachu, and ran towards the Pokemon Center - all in a period of twenty or so seconds, leaving me to fight on pure feral instinct.

I clenched my fist hard. I pointed at the Dragonite, "When you hurt my friends, I hurt you!" I launched a Focus Blast at the Dragonite. The Dragonite barely dodged my quick Focus Blast, barely getting grazed by the ball of blue aura.

Clair nodded to herself, "Dragonite, use Extremespeed!" The Dragonite immediately disappeared. I shuddered at it's sudden disappearance. It appeared behind me in time for me to turn around and get a gut-busting punch to my stomach. I was sent sprawling in the dirt a few feet away from the point of impact.

I stood slowly, struggling to catch my breath, because it's punch knocked the wind out of me. I drew a few breaths and collected my mind, preparing for a hit this time. Clair shouted, "Dragonite, use Ice Punch!" Dragonite charged it's fist in glacial fury again. It flew towards me with the eyes of a bloodlusty maniac; but I was prepared this go-around.

I dodged the Dragonite on the flyby. It wheeled around to see...four of me? The Dragonite immediately froze, and mused at the Double Team copies of me. Clair smirked, "Dragonite, use Fire Blast!" Clair's Dragonite gathered a colossal ball of fire in it's mouth, and launched it towards me and my shadow clones.

I reacted in a way the Dragonite didn't expect: just before the column of fire hit my copies, the Dragonite's pupils shrunk slightly as I vanished into thin air. The Dragonite turned around wide-eyed as I used Teleport, and struck it in the small of it's back with a Focus Blast.

The Dragonite skidded in the dirt and fell limp for a moment. It regained its stance in a matter of seconds, shaking off my Focus Blast. Claire snarled, "Dragonite, just use your instinct. Finish this battle on your own!" She sheathed her body into her long billowing cape, allowing her Dragonite to continue the fight on its own.

Dragonite nodded towards Claire, confirming the situation at hand.

I cursed to myself. There goes my advantage of prediction. Sucks, because I could've used that to my advantage.

Dragonite rushed towards me without warning. It used Ice Punch, and followed up with a Fire Punch; both of which almost grazed me. I felt the slight dual sensation of heat and frost clashing with my bones.

I used Teleport again, but the Dragonite saw it coming that time. I felt the wind get knocked out of me again as the Dragonite roughly headbutted me with a vicious Extremespeed. I coughed hard, swearing I could hear a bone snap as the Dragonite hit my gut. It threw me to the ground on my back swiftly.

I rolled onto my stomach, and sputtered the tiniest amount of blood into the dirt, making a nice, muddy, claylike color as I mixed the blood in momentarily. I got to my feet, not backing down from my original threat.

The Dragonite stood leering over me. I saw a mental image of myself, the Dragonite staring down at me maliciously with a small amount of crimson blood seeping from the corner of my mouth. I put a thumb up towards the Dragonite, puzzling it with my actions, and flipped the finger down, like in the gladiator arenas of ancient Rome.

I gave it the symbol of death in the arena as it rushed me - hitting my shin with a powerful kick - almost shattering the bone in my leg. I used Psychic on Dragonite, and hit it with a wave of mental energy. The Dragonite hit the ground hard, yet still not fazed by my onslaught.

An orange hand grabbed my arm, and I gasped, as the Dragonite used Extremespeed, and caught up to me, grasping my arm, and yanking me to the ground. I gaped as the Dragonite pinned me to the ground with its gigantic left hand.

It clenched it's right hand into a fist and punched me square in the face with a brutal Fire Punch. I howled in pain as it drove it's balled fist into my chest this time. The meager amount of breath I regained escaped my lungs again. It proceeded to alternate between Fire Punch and Ice Punch a handful of times, before it let go of me with a sneer.

The crowd exploded in cheer as I got put down by the Dragonite hard. It then grabbed my left arm and held me up for the crowd like a trophy - its symbol of victory. It dropped my body with a soft "plump" in the dirt. The Dragonite started to walk back towards Claire in triumph over it's evident win. However, I had other ideas in mind.

A small explosion rattled the stadium as the Dragonite fell flat on it's face like an idiot. A large pink streak painted into it's skin; I gave it the mother of all cheap shots. The Dragonite snarled, sure I was going down hard, but I had to try and bring down the Dragonite with me in the very least.

The Dragonite screamed in rage as it charged a Fire Punch heading towards me. I smirked - sidestepping the Dragonite too easily - and ushered the universal symbol of "bring it on".

I imagined the bedazzled crowd before me: the awing image of a Gardevoir - bruised, bloody, and beaten rather hard - not giving up in the very least, despite her severe injuries. That resolute pushed me further to let the Dragonite make the fatal mistake.

Clair screamed, "Dragonite, use your final technique. I'm not gonna let you fall to a pitiful Gardevoir! Just get this over with, and we win!"

Pitiful? Sorry but you've got another thing coming. I got a little trick of my own.

I felt a gleam in the Dragonite's eye as it rushed me much faster this time. I tried to keep it at bay with an ocassional Psychic, or Focus Blast. With no avail, the Dragonite pulled me into a fierce hug, as I felt it grab me hard. It started to flap it's wings in preparation to take off. Dragonite flew into the sky like a rocket; it still bear hugged me, trying to crush the air out of my lungs. Things started to turn from there: Dragonite flew high above the crowd - their tiny faces becoming invisible in a matter of seconds, to merely nothing at all - soon giving me a view of the landscape.

Dragonite froze in midflight, and stopped flapping. I felt enraptured as we both started falling hundreds of yards towards the earth, the Dragonite starting to spiral down towards the ground. I fought the Dragonite, yet the vice grip of Dragonite kept me in place.

Oh no, this is it! I'm sorry for not fulfilling my duty as a proper parent. I'm sorry for not being able to ever find Star. Thank you Creator, because I'm coming.

I quickly stopped making my last rites when an epiphany hit me. My final technique! I haven't done it in awhile, but I have to try. Two can play at this game.

I gathered my mental energy to the fullest, attempting to do two things at once. I stared directly into the Dragonite's eyes - my eyes started to glow a harsh, bright pink. Then my own little miracle occured. I felt the Dragonite's bear hug start to slightly slack on my body. I continued to stare directly into the menacing eyes, while amplifying my mental energy even more. The Dragonite started to slack even more, despite trying it's hardest to resist my mental assault. I felt my numb limbs regain mobility slowly. Then the Dragonite's eyes started to droop, then fully close.

I smiled in triumph at my feat: I successfully performed Hypnosis on a Dragonite - a move I rarely performed.

I fell into a state of bliss as the Dragonite's body started to fall level to the earth - shielding me from the majority of the impact as I felt my ribcage rattle. A giant boom filled the stadium as the Dragonite smashed into the ground, leaving a crater a few yards deep in the packed dirt - from what I could see. Dust flew everywhere, probably puzzling the crowd.

I could faintly hear the echoing voice of Liam Volkner, almost like static. "I-is..over folk...who...won?" Time to show myself to the audience. I wrenched myself free of the unconcious Dragonite's grip. I tried to stand in the crater, and a severe pain in one of my thighs forced me to cringe in pain. I instinctively placed my right hand on my thigh, yet that arm felt sore too.

A ringing started to take over my ears. I couldn't hear Volkner as he helped me out from the crater, and throw my uninjured hand up in victory. All of the sudden, I felt my stomach start to burn fiercely, and squeeze in disagreement. I placed my hand in front of my mouth in embarassment as I upchucked a steady flow of bloody vomit. I fell to my knees and hurled a second time. I started to feel lightheaded and painful all over.

Despite not being aware of the situation, I took to one knee and collapsed on the ground a few seconds after. My vision faded in and out of limbo every few seconds, recieving the last few images before fading our completely. Nurse Joy carted out a stretcher to carry me on, I caught a glimpse of Red dashing towards the stretcher with my children in tow, and to my suprise, the robed Champion.

I opened my eyes slowly. The ceiling oh so similar to the Pokemon Center in Rustboro, only instead of my two children in seperate beds on either side of me, Red and my two children sat in chairs on the left side of the room.

Red sighed in relief, "Dear God Lunia, I thought you were dead. You seriously had me worried. Your children were in tears over your unconcious form! You really scared us."

I smiled weakly, "Paladus, Serenity, could you please come here?" They both got up from their chairs and then stood right next to me.

I whispered, "Lean in." They both leaned over, and I hugged them each with one arm, and weeped slightly. "I'm so sorry for forgetting about you in the motel. I promise to look after you when I get released."

Serenity nodded, "Thanks Mommy."

Red placed his head down and muttered, "Also Lunia...you have a visitor. Your visitor isn't us. As a matter of fact, she's right there." He pointed to the right wall.

A person - evidently a young girl - was leaning against the wall, looking at her backpack on the floor. She toted a bunched up cloak or robe of some sort in an arm, and wore a belt complete with six Pokeballs, indicating she was a trainer. The girl stood somewhat tall, and seemed a little slim; she had light brown hair, and wore a lime green T-shirt with jean shorts cut just above the knees.

Red proclaimed, "She has actually been looking for you Lunia."

I looked at her from head to toe, trying to figure out where I had seen her, if at all.

Then, she spoke. "Gardevoir! It's you!" I sat up wide-eyed.

I sat gaping at my children and Red. "Wait, is this-"

Red interrupted me, "Meet Natalie Grant. You may know her better as Star."